I’ll need a decent costume and a few of the dresses I saw in the closet have triggered an idea but I’ll need a few more things so I look up the nearest Target and plan to hit it later.
I relax in the tub daydreaming about what I’ll do after this job is done until the water goes cold and then wrap my soft, scented, damp body with a heated towel and go back to the huge walk-through closet. I find the dress I want and a pair of sexy red bottoms to go with it and lay them out on the bed.
Blue velvet trimmed with black ribbon, the dress has a low scoop neckline and a flared skirt that will hit mid-thigh. I might have to nip in the chest area a bit as Candy is at least a third bigger than my own girls so I add a small sewing kit to my list of supplies needed.
I turn away and search through a dresser and find a row of new cardboard packages with different types and colors of nylons until I find one that has black stay-ups with a band of black lace that wraps around the thighs. Perfect, I toss the package next to the dress and then leave the room. I walk down the hall to the guest room and grin when I spot another camera near the ceiling and then let the towel fall to the floor. Let the fucker look if he can.
After throwing on some skinny jeans and a hoody, I chuck the black velvet hair headband in the trash and scoop my hair back into a short pony. I wrinkle my nose at the blond hair that doesn’t suit me at all and decide to change that today as well. It served its purpose but it’s got to go.
When I get to the door that leads to the garage, I spot an oversized purse with mesh side panels and grab it off the shelf out of curiosity. A glance inside is all it takes for me to see that it’s one of those small dog carriers that women take their mini dogs out in. I arch a brow and turn to look down the hall where Skipper is standing, eyeing me.
“You wanna go shopping?”
She skips and hops halfway toward me so I take that as a yes and set the purse on the ground and hold back the sides.
“All right, get in then.”
Clearly, this isn’t Skipper’s first rodeo with the bag because she hops right in, turns a few times, and then settles down into it. I can’t help but grin and give a little shrug before I carry her out to the van.
“Safety first I guess,” I say as I strap the seat belt around the bag in the passenger seat and then grab a spare remote from a peg beside the alarm panel.
As I drive out of the neighborhood, I spot the ugly house where I saw the fight the day before and see a long line of catering trucks lined up in the driveway. I guess the guy has enough pretentious friends to have a Halloween party.
Target is a madhouse of last-minute holiday shoppers but Skip and I snag a cart from a customer who’s just finished emptying it into their trunk and bull our way into the store with her little head popped out the top to people watch and sniff all the new scents. I dodge flying elbows in the candy aisle as people grab big bags of treats to hand out later tonight, trying to finish the shopping that they’ve left until the last minute. I manage to get a box of mini chocolate bars and a huge bag of lollypops and then run for my life from the Mom Fight Club as Skipper cowers deep in her bag with a whimper.
I swing through the toy section to grab a big boxed-up monster truck and am almost body checked when I reach for a large set of My Little Ponies by a seven-year-old girl. Skipper pops her head out of the bag and growls at the kid causing her to back off. If that dog had a fist, I would bump it for the teamwork.
Target is savage today but it could be worse, it could be Christmas. I breathe a sigh of relief when I get to the quieter hair care section and browse the different selections of color. My hand reaches for a dark red dye but I get a small whine from Skipper so I put it back. I keep going down the aisle where I spotsomething else. A wide grin spreads across my face as I pick out the box and hold it out to Skipper.
“This one?” I ask her and get a tiny yap so drop it in the cart in agreement. “Nice!”
A quick browse through the craft section and a small sewing kit completes our shopping but as we’re heading to the cash registers, I spot a display of pet costumes and stop. There are lots of cutesy ones but I let my new friend decide on what she wants so I pull her from the bag and hold her out to the display. She sniffs at a few as I move her up and down along it but then zeros in on something that has me barking out a laugh.
What she’s picked is not really appropriate for a dog her size but she seems to like it, so who am I to judge? I grab the cardboard cutout with two tiny plastic pistols in a harness that will go over her back attached to it, a red bandana, a bandolier of little plastic bullets, and a sheriff’s star badge. She can be the law if she wants to be and I’ll just laugh at the irony of it.
We cash out and then we’re headed back to the house to get ready for the night.
A few hours later and one of Candy’s plush expensive towels is stained with blue hair dye from my freshly dyed hair. I got that black headband back out of the garbage and using blue craft paper made a cone to attach to it. I stand in front of Candy’s wall of mirrors and check out the total effect of my costume.
The sexy blue velvet dress, black nylons, sleek blue hair that cuts like a knife between my chin and shoulders, and a small blue cone, tipped jauntily off-center on my head have all come together to turn me into a sexy blue crayon. I love it and based on how Skip’s tail is wagging, she does too. I get her into her costume and laugh at how she preens at it in front of the mirror.I’m guessing this isn’t the first time the dog’s been dressed up based on how she doesn’t fuss at it.
A look at the clock tells me I still have a few hours before it’s worth going to any nightclub so I turn on one VERY expensive red-bottomed heel and head downstairs to hand out candy to any trick-or-treaters that come calling.
It’s fun handing out candy like this. The apartment we used to live in hardly ever got trick-or-treaters as most of them would hit the single-family houses in the neighborhood next to ours. In between doorbell rings, I pregame the club with Patrón mixed with some pomegranate juice I find in the fridge. It’s surprisingly tasty and goes down way too well. I’m halfway through my third drink and feeling pleasantly buzzed when the doorbell rings again. A glance into my candy bowl shows me that this visit will empty it out and it will be time to head out to the club to dance.
I grab the bowl and rest it on my hip and then swing the door open with a smile for the cute little costumed kids I’m expecting. What I find has my smile dropping away, and the bowl on my hip almost slips from my fingers as I blink a few times in confusion. Standing on the porch staring back at me are three large men. They are all in black cloaks with hoods and have smooth plastic masks covering half their faces with only their mouths and chins revealed. Their outfits are the same except for the masks. Each man’s mask is a different color – one red, one green, and one black.
I open my mouth to make a sarcastic quip about them being a little past the age for the candy but I don’t get the chance. The one in the red mask steps into the doorway and gives me a wicked grin.
“Trick or treat, Blue. Now take a step back.”
My eyebrows shoot up in surprise but it’s the gun he’s holding in his hand that has me snapping my mouth closed and taking a few steps back automatically.
Blue
That’s all they need to crowd through the door, pushing me further back into the house. I stumble in the stilettos I’m wearing and the candy bowl crashes to the hardwood floor but Red Mask grabs my elbow and steadies me so I don’t follow it down. I suck in a shocked breath as my eyes track Black Mask as he rushes to the front windows and yanks the curtains closed and Green Mask strides deeper into the house.
“What…the…actual…fuck…is happening right now?” I ask in disbelief.
